“He worked like an animal” – Thomas Tuchel names Chelsea’s ‘strongest player’ in embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Brentford

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel wanted to move on quickly from Saturday's shock 4-1 home defeat to Brentford but praised Kai Havertz's performance in the disaster.

The German attacking midfielder has been playing in a new role in recent months as a false nine.

He has flourished in the role, scoring eight goals since being trialled in the role against Zenit St Petersburg last December.

He wasn't on the scoresheet in Saturday's demoralizing loss, but Tuchel praised the attitude of the player during the game, claiming he was the Blues' best player on the day.

He told Chelsea's official website:

"I felt he was our strongest player. He worked like an animal and he was very dangerous. I'm very happy with his performance."

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Kai Havertz is becoming vital for Chelsea

Havertz has shown huge improvement for Chelsea this season

The 22-year-old had somewhat of a difficult start to life when he joined the west London outfit from Bayer Leverkusen back in September 2020.

There were huge expectations surrounding the talented German following his great exploits in the Bundesliga which saw him score 36 goals in 118 league games.

The huge £72 million fee paid by Chelsea to lure him to Stamford Bridge was seemingly befitting of the huge promise the German attacker had been showing.

But the forward had a hard time breaking into the Premier League giants' first team during his first season and a Covid infection would disrupt his progress further.

He managed nine goals and contributed as many assists in 45 appearances across all competitions during the 2020-2021 season.

His bond with the Stamford Bridge faithful really took hold when he scored the winning goal in the side's huge 1-0 victory in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City.

Since then, Havertz has been a man reborn. A constant nightmare for defenders this season, he has excelled under Tuchel, who has afforded him a more free roaming role.

The former Leverkusen attacker has 11 goals and five assists to his name in 36 games across all competitions so far this season.

His impressive form in the false nine role has seen him usurp club-record signing Romelu Lukaku for the striker's role.

He has now seemingly adapted to English football and is constantly looking more like living up to the fee the Blues paid for him back in 2020.

He will be instrumental as Tuchel's men now target UEFA Champions League glory for a second year in a row alongside going one step further in the FA Cup than last season.